The Angola's civil war Was an armed conflict that continued in the African nation for more than 26 years (from 1975 to 2002), with brief periods of fragile peace.
The war erupts once Angola becomes independent of Portugal, being the last African colony to achieve its independence, starting within its territories a violent struggle for power.
Destroyed bridge in the civil war of Angola.
The main protagonists of Angola's civil war were the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).
The civil war was essentially a power struggle between these two liberation movements, backed by the great powers in the shadow of the Cold War.
Once achieved independence, the MPLA was the first to seize power, taking a series of political and economic decisions that would mark Angola historically, while, from the international perspective, countries like France, the United States, Russia, Cuba and South Africa would seek their own prominence within the African nation.
The civil war in Angola left more than half a million dead and up to a third of the total population internally displaced and in neighboring countries.
Since 2002, when the armed conflict has officially ended, the country has remained in a state of turmoil and confusion, with an unstable economic system and a social perception that lives under the shadow of past violence.
Causes of the civil war in Angola
Ethnic and social tensions
Prior to the arrival of independence, tensions in Angola were about ethnic differences and conflicts, as well as the confrontation between the MPLA and FNLE forces against the Portuguese army as part of the War of Independence of Angola, begun in 1961 and Whose end would give almost instantaneous beginning to the civil conflict.
With the incursions and military participation that began to take place at the beginning of the 70, countries like China, South Africa and Cuba maintained interests and projects within Angola.
The local movements began to feel a certain dislike before the interference of those nations, by what boycotted the foreign operations while they continued fighting for its independence.
Independence of Angola
The coup d'etat that lived Portugal in the year 1974 gave rise to that one year later Angola acquired its independence.
By 1975, the MPLA, UNITA and the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) formed a transitional government that in just one year would be dissolved, leaving MPLA's top representative to power, and initiating the armed conflict with the Dissident movements.
The MPLA, with the support of the Soviet Union and Cuba, began to gain totalitarian control of the Angolan nation, seeking to impose a centralized political and economic system; The expropriation and nationalization of private enterprise; The rejection of the dollar against the local currency (kwanza), which caused excessive inflation.
On the other hand, and given the communist nature of the government to power, the United States and South Africa began to supply UNITA members (with an anti-Communist position against the MPLA) with provisions, arms, ammunition and mercenaries, intensifying confrontation and The guerrilla war in Angola.
Peace periods
A short period of peace and elections held in 1992 could mark the end of the civil war in Angola; However, the victory and perpetuity of MPLA caused displeasure in the ranks of UNITA, whose founder and presidential candidate decided to ignore the results and resume the armed conflict.
Another peace process was initiated in 1994 between the government represented by MPLA and UNITA armed rebels. Only two years were enough to return to armed violence.
Consequences
Cessation of arms and casualties
The war officially ended in 2002, with the death of UNITA leader Jonás Savimbi, and the deposition of the weapons part of this movement, which became a political party.
UNITA and MPLA agree to a cease-fire, beginning to look for non-violent political alternatives to change the course of the country.
The end of the civil war left Angola in a ruinous state. 500,000 dead and four million refugees and internally displaced.
The war left Angola in the middle of a humanitarian crisis, with more than 60% of Angolans lacking the most basic services and access.
Angola in ruins
The war left a bad economic scenario: a labor market that did not exist (massive exodus of Angolans studied and professionals), land uncultivated by the mines and the absence of a national productive apparatus devoured by the inflation of the currency.
Since then, the government has moved away from a nationalist position and exploiting natural resources, has allowed a greater amount of foreign investment, which has allowed it to invest and infrastructure and to establish international agreements.
Everything, however, has been overshadowed by acts of corruption and sudden expropriations that prevent the national economy from developing.
The citizens highly disapprove of President José Eduardo dos Santos (to power since 1975), who is accused of retaining with a small groups the monetary wealth of the nation.
The remembrance of the inhumane treatment of UNITA soldiers and those of the MPLA, who sacrificed the lives of civilians and left decimated villages, still persists in much of the population refusing to return, or rebuild their country.
A mined country
At present, the Angolans are still affected by an evil installed many years ago: the explosive mines. Virtually the entire national territory can be considered as mined.
After decades of conflict, a lot of hard work has been done so far by institutions attached to the United Nations, which estimate that they have removed up to 90,000 mines and cleared more than 800 minefields.
Despite efforts, Angola's rural areas continue to be the most vulnerable to a constant threat, impeding the development of the region and hampering the living conditions of its own and those who return from other territories.
References
- Bender, G. J. (1978). Angola Under the Portuguese: The Myth and the Reality. University of California Press.
- Ferreira, M. E. (2006). Angola: conflict and development, 1961-2002. The Economics of Peace and Security Journal , 24-28.
- Hurst, R. (s.f.). Angolan Civil War (1975-2002) . Obtained from Black Past.org Remembered & Reclaimed: blackpast.org
- Jahan, S. (2016). Human Development Report 2016. Washington D.C.: Communications Development Incorporated.
- Marques, R. (2013). The roots of violence in Africa. The case of Angola. Analysis , 43-60.
- Polgreen, L. (July 30, 2003). Angolans Come Home to 'Negative Peace'. The New York Times .
- The HALO Trust. (S.f.). Angola . Retrieved from The HALO Trust: halotrust.org.